An Exciting Career Ahead for New Mum Zoey
Zoey Hughes joined the Activity Agreement Pilot (AAP) in August 2007. At five-months-pregnant, she was unable to get a job but did not want to waste the next four months doing nothing. Zoey had already achieved a GNVQ in Information Technology with Sysco Training, and wanted to build on her skills and provide a better future for her baby.
One of her first AAP experiences saw Zoey sign up for a basic skills course at Liverpool Lighthouse, where she enjoyed meeting other young people and soon achieved a level 1 OCR Adult Numeracy qualification. Zoey also attended Anfield Children's Centre to prepare her for becoming a mum. She received help and support from other professionals who were able to help her get ready for the birth of the baby. At the Children’s Centre Zoey also enjoyed getting together with the other mums-to-be and learning about health issues and parenting skills.
When she turned 29 weeks pregnant Zoey decided it was time to withdraw from the AAP, but she kept in touch with Connexions and the other staff at Anfield Children’s Centre. As soon as her baby daughter Amelia was four-months-old, Zoey couldn’t wait to rejoin the programme and continued to work with her Connexions Personal Adviser Paul Windle, as well as staff at Anfield Children's Centre.
Although Zoey had started to apply for Business Admin opportunities, she talked through with Paul some new ideas for her future career. Becoming a mum had made her realise that she really wanted to work with children and she was excited to work with Connexions to explore the various options for working in Childcare. After some help and support, Zoey has now progressed onto a Childcare apprenticeship at Aigburth Training. She accessed Care to Learn funding to gain a place for baby Amelia in Aigburth Training's newly-opened nursery “Little Explorers”, and her first apprenticeship placement is actually based in the nursery so she is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Amelia and watch her interact with the other babies!
Speaking from her new job at Aigburth Training, Zoey said: “I learned from the AAP that I didn't want to work in Business Admin. It also helped me to learn that I can go back to training and still look after the baby. The AAP improved my confidence by giving me opportunities to try things out such as work experience. My message to other young mums is join the AAP because you can learn how to look after your baby and still get into training or college.”
Personal Adviser Paul Windle added “It was a great experience working with Zoey because she approached each AAP activity in a polite, dedicated and positive way. She is a classic example of how young people can use AAP to test aspirations to see if they really like them or not. The key to engaging her on the AAP was working with her in a flexible way via her community, so that she could bring her daughter Amelia to our weekly appointments. Zoey is a fantastic role model to young mums in Liverpool and hopefully her experiences will inspire more young parents to join.”
For more information on the Activity Agreement Pilot contact your nearest Connexions Centre or
